


The Influence of Midnight

by LadyLienDa



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2019-2020 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Late Night Conversations, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:39:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23957791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLienDa/pseuds/LadyLienDa
Summary: Hunk rarely finds himself awake at night. Keith is the last person he would expect to join him, but here they both are. Something is definitely wrong with Keith, but Hunk hopes Keith will tell him when he's ready. That's what friends are for, right?Written for Bad Things Happen Bingo: Nightmares
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo 2019-2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1251959
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	The Influence of Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt on Tumblr.  
> Anon wrote: "For the Bingo, can you do 'Nightmares' for Keith with caretaker Hunk?"
> 
> You got it, Anon! Hope you like a hefty side of hot chocolate and fluff!

Hunk wasn’t sure what woke him. He had gotten great sleep the last few nights (or what passed for night in the castleship), so maybe this was his body’s way of letting him know he’d gotten plenty? He wasn’t sure. His circadian rhythm had been soundly destroyed long ago, and despite the attempt at normal day/night cycle by those in charge, the rest of the universe kept chugging along, sometimes interrupting at the most inopportune times.

Hunk had been woken up by the alarm so many times now he half expected to hear it blaring now as he rubbed his eyes and fumbled for the light switch beside his bunk. At least it would have provided an easy explanation to why he’d woken. He recalled no unpleasant dreams and he didn’t feel particularly hungry. He felt fine, in fact, fine enough to get out of bed and maybe wander around the castle for a bit to see who else was up. He just didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. Maybe he would go bake something for breakfast or see if Pidge needed help with her project. She had been so excited about it the day before, Hunk had no doubt she would still be awake, working on it.

The castleship had a still, eerie feeling to it even in the simulated “daytime,” and that feeling was amplified at “night” when all the overhead lights were dimmed and the pale, bluish fixtures on the walls were lit up instead, casting a soft, mysterious Altean Blue™ light over the corridors. Coran had waxed some of the floors recently, and when Hunk looked down he spotted his fuzzy reflection peering up at him, looking distinctly ghostlike.

He wandered for some time throughout the ship. The training deck where Shiro usually spent sleepless nights was dark and silent, and Hunk found he was glad at the sight. It meant that Shiro was having one of his better nights, and Hunk hoped there wouldn’t be any Galra attacks or other emergencies until well into the morning, for Shiro’s sake. He found Hope slumped over the little desk in the corner of the medbay, snoring softly and surrounded by boxes of supplies and the color-coded medpacks belonging to each Lion. She had been halfway through resupplying them before she fell asleep. Hunk smiled to himself, grabbed a blanket lying folded at the end of one of the medical beds and draped it over her shoulders before shutting off the medbay lights and continuing his sojourn throughout the castle.

He half expected to find Pidge passed out in the same manner, surrounded by parts and equipment, but her lab was surprisingly deserted, although she appeared to have left the lights on. Hunk waited around for a few dobashes to see if she had just gone to the bathroom or something, but she didn’t show. It truly appeared he was the only one awake in the whole ship – a strange and profound notion he was quite unaccustomed to. He had never been the nocturnal sort – he was more like Lance in that he preferred to get as much sleep as he could and never understood how people like Pidge could subsist on so little.

Hunk eventually made his way up to the bridge, hoping the sight of the stars gently shifting around him might make him feel sleepy. It didn’t. He gazed out of the giant viewport, feeling small and alone, like he was the only person in the entire universe at that moment.

A quiet hiss behind him startled him out of his contemplative state. He jumped a little and turned to see a dark shape in the doorway. The dark hair and pale skin were an immediate giveaway.

“Keith?”

The boy paused in the doorway, startled, then turned and closed the door behind him.

Hunk was already moving towards the door. “Keith, wait!”

He hurried after Keith, who was moving quickly down the hallway. “Keith, stop!”

Keith did. He stood stone-still and stared at the floor, not even looking up at Hunk.

Hunk frowned, concern already bubbling inside him like a pot about to boil over. “You okay, man?”

“I’m fine, Hunk,” Keith replied, his voice sounding hollow and scratchy. The odd bluish lighting made what little Hunk could see of his face look strange and ghostly. His hair was tousled (even more than usual), suggesting he had been asleep, but he wasn’t in his pajamas. In fact, he still had his boots on, and Hunk would have bet the last of his Almecii spice cookies that Keith had slept with them on.

_What the quiznack?! Does this guy sleep in his clothes?_

After the initial shock, he realized he understood a little. The alarm woke them all up so often that it often paid to be prepared instead of fumbling around in the dark for weapons and armor. But to sleep with one’s shoes on? Maybe Lance’s frequent jabs at Keith being uptight all the time had a grain of truth to them.

“Like quiznack, you’re fine,” Hunk replied, feeling more concerned by the dobash. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Keith said in that strange, hollow-sounding voice. “Sorry to bother you. I didn’t realize anyone else was up.”

“Neither did I,” said Hunk. “I couldn’t sleep, so I was hoping the stars would help me feel sleepy again, but they just made me feel more awake.” He could sense something was up with Keith, but since this was Keith and not Lance, it would take a bit of coaxing to get it out of him. “Hey, I was just about to go warm up some hot chocolate and have the last of those spice cookies I made the other day. You wanna split it with me?”

Keith still stared resolutely at the floor, but he shrugged and allowed himself to be steered by the shoulder down the corridor to the kitchen. When Hunk turned on the lights, he immediately noticed that the ghostly pallor of Keith’s skin wasn’t just from the Altean Blue™ lighting from the corridor.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hunk asked. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m alright.”

Hunk frowned. “That’s not ‘fine,’ Keith. What’s up? Can’t sleep? Headache? Stomachache?” He cocked his head to the side a little. “Maybe the hot cocoa is a bad idea?”

“No, it sounds great, actually,” said Keith, moving slowly over to the counter, as if he’s not quite fully awake, and sitting down on one of the stools. “So how come you’re up?”

Hunk paused with his hand on the fridge. He hadn’t missed the abrupt change in topic but decided not to push it.

“Woke up, couldn’t get back to sleep,” he answered, setting the milk jug on the counter and reaching above him into one of the cabinets. “I decided to wander around for awhile and ended up on the bridge. I was surprised to see you, actually. Not even Pidge is awake.”

“Really?” Keith asked. Hunk glanced behind him to see Keith sitting hunched in the chair, his arms curled unconsciously around his stomach, his face still looking pale. “That’s surprising.”

“Guess even she needs more than two hours of sleep once in awhile.”

Keith chuckled. “Yeah, I guess.”

They lapsed into silence while Hunk finished making the hot chocolate – or rather, the closest thing to hot chocolate as they could find in space. Hunk had tried several recipes and ingredients from several different planets and had eventually settled on a mix that had been tested and approved by all except the Alteans, who didn’t seem to get the appeal. The result was a slightly thicker, foamier beverage than the hot chocolate from Earth, but aside from the slight nutty flavor and the violent shade of indigo, it tasted exactly like chocolate. It was a rare little taste of familiarity and Hunk treasured every bit of it.

Soon there were two steaming mugs and a napkin with the last Almecii spice cookie split neatly in two. Hunk carried them over to the counter and sat down next to Keith, both of them facing the kitchen at large.

“Cheers,” said Hunk, holding up his mug in a mock toast before bringing it to his lips. Keith smiled a little and finished his half of the cookie before taking a drink himself.

They sat in silence, each with his own mug of hot chocolate, gazing out at the silent and dimly lit kitchen. Hunk was burning with questions – Keith obviously wasn’t fine, but he clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, so when he finished his chocolate, thanked Hunk for sharing the cookie, and quietly left the kitchen, Hunk didn’t stop him with any more questions. He found he wouldn’t have known what to say even if he had been able to ask. So he whispered, “You’re welcome” and watched as Keith put his mug in the sink and slipped away, leaving Hunk alone with his thoughts.

Oh, well. If Keith wasn’t in much of a talking mood, that was fine, he supposed. Perhaps this was just what he needed, and Hunk would have ruined the moment by trying to question him.




A few days later, and Hunk had nearly forgotten about this strange nighttime encounter until he found himself waking up in the middle of the night again. He frowned, wondering what it was that had woken him this time.

There it was again – a knock at the door. Hunk frowned, wondering what sort of trouble Pidge had gotten into with her project now that required his help and why it couldn’t wait until morning. Grumbling to himself a little, he shrugged his way out of bed and shuffled over to the door, fumbling for the faintly glowing plate beside it.

When it opened, the grumpy words he’d had on the tip of his tongue dried in an instant. It wasn’t Pidge looking for help with her coding.

“Oh, hey Keith,” he said lamely, his hand going to the back of his head. “I thought you were Pidge for a second.”

Keith still wasn’t dressed in his pajamas, but this time at least he wasn’t wearing his boots. He had the same hollow look from several nights before and his posture was taut and rigid, like he would bolt at the slightest sound. Hunk’s grumpiness at being woken up vanished.

“You okay, man?”

Keith shook his head, biting his lip and furrowing his eyebrows, like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Hunk waited patiently until he found them.

“Um, c-could you maybe make some more hot chocolate?”

The words were spoken in a hushed, almost scared tone, like Keith was afraid Hunk would get angry. The notion was absurd, though. Hunk might get grumpy from time to time, but his friends should really have known by now that he never got angry at any of them!

“Of course,” he said, ducking back inside to grab his slippers and then beckoning for Keith to follow him down the hall. Keith did, looking rather like a dog did when it had been caught doing something it shouldn’t and was waiting to see what would happen next. It was the wrong look on Keith. Hunk was supposed to be the scared one, not Keith! Keith was their fearless Red Paladin. Hunk had seen him take on a whole squadron of galra soldiers at once. So why did he look so frightened now?

Hunk itched to ask him, but he held his tongue. Keith would divulge if and when he was ready. Hunk’s job right now was to help in any way he could.

He mixed the cocoa silently and set the two mugs on the counter before pulling up a stool next to Keith, the same way he’d done last time. They drank their chocolate in silence, just like last time. Hunk was halfway through his when Keith suddenly set his mug down with a choked sort of noise. The drink sloshed dangerously inside the cup, threatening to spill over. Alarmed, Hunk looked over and saw that Keith’s hand was trembling, his face was drawn, and his eyes were glassy.

“K-Keith!” Hunk exclaimed, setting down his own mug. He didn’t know quite what else to say or do, and his hand hovered anxiously over the other boy’s shoulder, as if he was afraid his touch might burn him.

Keith didn’t react when Hunk finally placed his hand on his shoulder, so Hunk took that to mean he didn’t mind. His mind fumbled for words, but luckily Keith spoke up before then.

“I’m sorry I woke you up, Hunk,” he was saying. “Thank you for getting up anyway.”

“Of course, Keith,” said Hunk in a choked voice. “Anything for a friend. And if anyone looks like he needs hot chocolate, it’s you, man. You look awful. Something keeping you up?”

Keith nodded slowly, as if the admission was a source of guilt. “I keep having bad dreams,” he said quietly, keeping his gaze lowered to the countertop rather than meeting Hunk’s gaze. That was normal, and Hunk wasn’t offended by it. “They’ve been keeping me up. I’ve tried medicine, even relaxation, if you can believe it. It hasn’t helped. Only the hot chocolate the other night. Sounds pretty stupid, huh?”

Hunk shook his head. “Not at all. Whatever helps, man. I used to get nightmares a lot, too. Right when we first went into space and were getting settled in Voltron and the castle. I used to dream of our first Galra attack, but it was somehow mixed with home. It was very weird and unsettling. I totally get it, and I’m here to make as much hot chocolate as you need.”

A tear glistened in Keith’s eye and he scrubbed it away with his hand. “Thank you,” he said, his voice cracking. “It’s kind of stupid, really. We’re the Defenders of the Universe. We’re not supposed to be compromised by dumb things like nightmares.”

“Nightmares aren’t dumb,” Hunk insisted. “They’re dumb in that they keep us from sleeping and mess with our whole systems. But having them doesn’t make you dumb, or weak, or anything, really. They happen, and when they do, you surround yourself with other people and things that help. If hot chocolate helps, then drink as much hot chocolate as you want. No one’s going to judge you, I promise.”

Another tear materialized in Keith’s eye and ran down his cheek before he could wipe it away. “Thanks,” he said, and managed a smile.

Hunk shifted on his stool and held out his arms in invitation. Keith smiled a little wider and allowed himself to be hugged.

“It’s alright, man,” said Hunk, practically crushing the smaller boy in his arms. “We’ve got a lot on our shoulders. I think we’re allowed a certain amount of weakness, as long as the rest of us are around to pick us up.”

“Thank you, Hunk,” said Keith into Hunk’s pajama shirt.

Hunk patted him on the back. “Anytime, bud. Anytime.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still not happy with this, but I'm never happy with any of my works, so ...  
> I hope someone likes it!
> 
> [I tumble.](https://ladylienda.tumblr.com/)


End file.
